The Law of Fundraising. Bruce R. Hopkins

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Название The Law of Fundraising
Автор произведения Bruce R. Hopkins
Жанр Экономика
Серия
Издательство Экономика
Год выпуска 0
isbn 9781119873457



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      This article detailed the direct-mail fundraising activities of Children's Aid International (CAI), an organization headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia. According to the account, the organization raised nearly $1 million over a two-year period—“money it promised to spend on packages of high-protein food for malnourished children around the world”—yet expended on “food for children” less than seven cents out of each dollar raised. The breakdown on CAI's expenditures: 25 percent for management fees, 17 percent for other administrative costs, 51 percent for fundraising, and the balance—7 percent—for “starving children.”

      The clear implication gained from the article is that a 93 percent fundraising cost experienced by a charity is “improper,” may be close to “fraudulent,” and is certainly “wrong.” The closest the article came to expressing criticism was its observations that CAI's fundraising costs are “high in comparison with … many established charities,” and that the fundraising costs of the local United Way agency are less than 7 percent. The organization's defense—unavoidably high startup costs—went unanalyzed and was buried deep in the story. It may be safely assumed that the article helped fuel public suspicion about charitable institutions generally.